"He came into our family a year ago and won our hearts in seconds. He purred like no other cat. He loved us. Something hit him or he fell a week ago and it messed up his insides and we had to have him put to sleep today. Even though he was in a lot of pain he climbed onto us and purred as loud as he could until it was time for his shot.

You wouldn't think you could cry so hard for an animal you've only known for a year but you can.

I think he had a good year with us. It was fun watching him grow. I only wish we could have had him longer and watched him get old.

There are lots of pictures of the tiny orange cat with the absurdly loud motor on my brother Dru's Flickr page, but this one best represents the kitten (later, full-grown cat) that I remember from my occasional visits to the far end of the Fraser Valley. A miniature tiger weaving his way through the back garden among the cabbages and invasive morning glory vines, or bolting across the scrappy lawn covered in fallen plums to pounce on the family's feline matriarch, Blasterella, or lurking perched on top of the beehive-shaped black plastic compost bin, or the wrecked brick barbecue.

In the night I dreamed I was burying Rose T. Cat in a little satin-lined cardboard box below the high tide line at Whytecliff Park. Woke to cool air, a siren somewhere, light rain, the lights of the city visible, reflected, on the low clouds.

According to a press release authored by Glenn Alteen, "The legal battle began over 4 years ago, when Belmore, after deciding to leave the Pari Nadimi Gallery, requested the return of her artworks, related documentation and the payment (and an accounting) for artwork sold by the dealer. These basic, legal rights are still being violated. Belmore recognizes the importance of the case for herself and others: 'If Pari Nadimi is successful in this claim against me, it would mean no artist would ever be free to choose to leave. Artists would be slaves to their galleries. This is a horrible precedent.'"

I have enormous respect for Belmore, and was very pleased when she agreed to show a new installation piece at CSA Space in September 2008. I will immediately be making a donation to Belmore's legal defense fund, and urge all of you in the readership to do likewise. Nadimi's shameful treatment of Belmore cannot be allowed to stand. Artists are not resources, like cattle herds or stands of corn, that commercial art dealers can automatically "cultivate" for a guaranteed return. Nor is it an artist's job to indemnify their dealer for the dealer's inability to sell their art, or for a general lack of business savvy. Even the suggestion of such an arrangement is repulsive to me as an art writer, photographer, gallery co-owner, collector and businessman.
- posted by cjb @ 3:17 PM

"'There are days when 15 or 20 people pass by and might not even notice I’m here,' he said, as several pedestrians seemed to do just that. 'A decade ago, if you saw someone covering their ear and talking to themselves, you would have thought they were just nuts. Today that’s the norm. It’s as if they are totally consumed by their own world and have no room for the outside. It is complete immersion in self to the exclusion of all else. That has to have an impact on the rest of our lives.'"
- posted by cjb @ 11:21 AM